Reference no: EM133932470
Cyber Security Governance and Management
Assessment Details for Assessment Item: Overview
Introduction
A report detailing a security management plan for an organisation, including risk analysis, incident reporting, and disaster recovery to manage security, and address legal and statutory obligations for a given case study. Your group will present a written report and an oral defence of the justification of the risks involved.
In this group assessment, students will be given a case study and tasked with developing a robust security management plan. You are required to produce a comprehensive report of approximately 2000 words (plus or minus 200 words) addressing the following key aspects:
Discuss the fit of your formal approach to security with the company's values.
Discuss the role your approach would play in terms of governance in general.
Discuss the implications of legal and statutory requirements applicable to the case study.
In the introduction, explain the benefits a Risk Management Plan can bring to a company and the steps you would go through to build one.
Include a discussion on the importance of Contingency Planning to the company (as detailed in the case study), as well as the risk analysis and cost-benefit-analysis mentioned.
Development of a Security Plan
List the threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks that your formal plan would manage.
Keep the focus on the company's context.
Write a continuity plan and a business continuity plan for the case study.
In the conclusion, discuss the benefits derived from seeing Security Management as an ongoing process.
Case Study: "InnovateTech Solutions"
Company Overview: InnovateTech Solutions is an Australian SME specializing in cutting-edge AI and machine learning development, and data analytics consulting services. The company has been in operation for seven years and has quickly gained a reputation for delivering innovative, data-driven solutions to clients in finance, healthcare, and retail sectors. InnovateTech Solutions started with a core team of 8 data scientists and engineers and has rapidly grown to a workforce of 75, serving over 150 high-profile clients globally. The company currently operates from a vibrant single office in a major city but is actively planning to expand its operations by opening two new satellite offices in different international cities within the next 18 months to better serve its growing global client base and tap into new talent pools.
Growth and Current Operations: InnovateTech Solutions has experienced exponential growth over the past few years, largely driven by its proprietary AI algorithms and successful client project outcomes. The company is managed by its visionary co-founder, Dr. Emily Clarke, who has steered the company's rapid expansion from a startup to a recognized leader in AI solutions. Dr. Clarke anticipates continued aggressive growth and is planning to acquire two smaller AI research firms in different countries to further enhance InnovateTech Solutions' intellectual property and market reach.
IT Infrastructure: The company's IT infrastructure is highly specialized and critical to its operations. Initially, it was managed by a small, agile IT team focused on supporting development environments. As the company grew, the complexity and sensitivity of its IT needs significantly increased. Currently, the IT department consists of three full-time staff members: Liam (Cloud Operations Lead), Sarah (Network Administrator), and David (Data Security Analyst). They are responsible for maintaining the company's high-performance computing clusters, secure data lakes, and ensuring operational continuity for all client projects. Additionally, Maria, the Head of Research, frequently collaborates with the IT team to integrate new research platforms securely.
Challenges and Concerns: With the planned international expansion and the acquisition of new firms, Dr. Clarke foresees an urgent need to formalize and significantly enhance the company's information security practices. The current approach to IT security, while effective for a smaller, centralized operation, has been somewhat informal and developed in an ad-hoc manner, heavily relying on the expertise of individual IT staff. Dr. Clarke is deeply concerned that this informal approach will not be sufficient to protect the company's highly sensitive intellectual property, vast amounts of client data (which often includes personal and financial information), and its growing global operations from sophisticated cyber threats. The prospect of managing data across multiple international jurisdictions with varying data protection laws (e.g., GDPR, CCPA, local Asian privacy acts) is a major concern. Your Role: You have recently been contracted as a specialist cybersecurity consulting firm to assess InnovateTech Solutions' current information security posture and provide comprehensive recommendations for improvement. Dr. Clarke initiated your hiring, recognizing the critical need for a more structured, scalable, and globally compliant approach to information security. However, there has been some apprehension from parts of the current IT staff, who feel their existing agile methods are adequate and worry that formal policies might hinder rapid innovation. Get top-notch online assignment help.
Objectives: Dr. Clarke has asked your group to develop a detailed report that outlines how information security could be better managed at InnovateTech Solutions, with a particular focus on the challenges of international expansion and cross-jurisdictional data management. While the report should cover general information security principles, Dr. Clarke also wants you to focus on a specific, critical issue: the secure integration of newly acquired international firms, specifically addressing secure data migration, network interoperability, and ensuring compliance with relevant data privacy regulations across all entities. You are expected to create a comprehensive Risk Management Plan for this issue, including a thorough risk analysis, and provide a recommendation based on a detailed Cost-Benefit Analysis of your proposed solutions.
Mission Statement: InnovateTech Solutions is committed to leading innovation in AI and data analytics, delivering transformative insights to clients while upholding the highest standards of intellectual property protection, data security, and client privacy globally.
Current IT Setup: InnovateTech Solutions utilizes a sophisticated mix of commercial, open-source, and proprietary software products for its operations. This includes advanced AI/ML development platforms (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch), secure code repositories (e.g., GitHub Enterprise), project management software (e.g., Jira), collaborative productivity tools (e.g., Microsoft 365 E5 suite), specialized big data analytics tools (e.g., Apache Spark, Hadoop clusters), and an internal secure VoIP communication sys tem. The company's
infrastructure relies heavily on a hybrid cloud model, leveraging both private cloud infrastructure for sensitive data processing and major public cloud providers (e.g., AWS, Azure, Google Cloud) for scalable computing and data storage. Employees are provided with high-performance workstations and laptops, and secure remote access via Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is enabled for all off-site work. All critical client data and intellectual property are stored in geo-redundant, encrypted cloud data lakes with automated backups. Email and collaboration services are hosted via Microsoft 365, with advanced threat protection enabled.
Next Steps: Your group's task is to envision additional hardware, software, security frameworks, and information/data management procedures that would robustly support the company's ambitious international expansion and acquisition plans, while ensuring unwavering information security practices and global regulatory compliance.
Instructions for Writing and Presentation (Group) Part A: Report (2000 Words)
Report Structure
The report must include the following:
Assignment Cover Page. Use the cover sheet provided. Include the Title, Assignment number, Student Names and IDs, Subject. Crucially, on this page, each group member must write a one-sentence statement outlining their specific contribution to the report.
Microsoft Word "Cover Page". Include the name of the report, who it has been prepared for, and the author(s).
Executive summary (1 paragraph: Who the report is for, scope/purpose of report; action required).
Table of contents.
Body (Numerous headings and text at the writer's discretion). This will include an introduction that describes the scope of the document and its structure.
A sign-off page - a page for the relevant parties to accept and approve the report.
References (List of works used in the document)/Bibliography (Materials relevant to the report, but not directly used).
Appendices for any other document you think could usefully be included.
Your report should be a comprehensive security management plan for InnovateTech Solutions, adhering to the specified report structure.
Pay close attention to the following sections as they align with the marking criteria:
Executive Summary: Summarize the entire document with key findings, who the report is for, its scope/purpose, and the action required.
Introduction: Introduce the report, explaining its creation and aligning your formal security approach with InnovateTech Solutions' values and its role in overall governance. Discuss the implications of legal and statutory requirements applicable to the case study (e.g., GDPR, APPs), and explain the benefits and steps of a Risk Management Plan, including the importance of Contingency Planning, Risk Analysis, and Cost-Benefit Analysis for InnovateTech Solutions.
Description of the Model Used to Develop a Security Management Plan: Describe the security management plan you've developed, focusing on how it addresses the unique context of InnovateTech Solutions. This should include identifying and listing key threats, vulnerabilities, and attacks that your plan would manage, along with recommended risk mitigation strategies. This section should clearly present the cost-benefit analysis and impact of your proposed security measures. Additionally, you must write a comprehensive continuity plan and a business continuity plan specifically tailored for InnovateTech Solutions.
The Legal and Statutory Requirements That Will Be Addressed: Detail the specific legal and statutory requirements relevant to InnovateTech Solutions' operations, especially considering its international expansion and data handling across various jurisdictions, and how your plan addresses these.
Describe the Cost-Benefit Analysis of Your Proposal: Provide a clear and detailed cost-benefit analysis of your entire security plan, justifying the proposed investments in security measures against the potential risks and their impacts.
Conclusion: Conclude your report by discussing the benefits derived from seeing Security Management as an ongoing process at InnovateTech Solutions and provide key methods and recommendations for ongoing security.
References/Bibliography: Provide a comprehensive list of all works used and any relevant materials.
Appendices: Include any additional supporting documents or detailed data you deem useful.
Part B: Presentation (Group)
This is a group presentation, with only one presentation per group allowed.
Presentation Duration: Each group member must present for 2-3 minutes.
All members must present in person at the designated campus during Week 13. Failure to attend and present in person will result in a zero grade for that assessment.
Recording: You must record the video using a PowerPoint presentation (with narration/video of presenters) or Zoom. All group members must appear in the video.